The Canton woman was upset at first and debated whether or not to even participate, but eventually rallied up the energy to make the 26.2-mile trek from Hopkinton to Boston.

Duggan’s sickness, which she thought to be a curse that morning, turned into a blessing. At her usual pace, she would have been going through the finish line around 2:40 p.m., minutes before two bombs burst on either side of the course.

At the time of the explosions, Duggan was only at mile 22. She saw a cop screaming at some kids on the sideline. She said she thought it was suspicious, but didn’t think much of it.

"I figured some kid said something stupid. I thought they were just causing trouble," she said.

Shortly afterward, Duggan got a call come in on her phone, which she was using as an ipod. It was her daughter. She told her mother bombs were going off and to get off the course so they could find each other.

Duggan’s daughter and her daughter’s husband were on Exeter Street, 20 feet from the first bomb. Once they heard the bursts, they started running toward the river into Cambridge – not even knowing if they were going away from the danger.

Duggan’s friend was able to locate her by using the "Find a Friend" app, which tracks the location of mobile devices of friends. Shortly afterward, Duggan met up with her daughter and they made it out safely.

It wasn’t until Duggan was safe at home that realized the severity of the incident.

"If you’ve ever run a marathon, at 20 miles you’re discombobulated. Nothing registers well," she said. "It didn’t register until I was watching the footage at home and seeing how close they were."

Duggan said it’s upsetting that someone had to make a tragedy out of such a great, joyful event.

"There’s so many people running for a cure and to prolong life and these people just took it," she said. "The people that are there are there for such good reasons."

Another Canton woman, Lauren Tourgee, was running the marathon for the Run for Research, which is part of the Liver Foundation.

Her race was going well until she got stopped under the underpass on Commonwealth Avenue, a third of a mile from the finish, where she was told the race was over and there were bombs at the end of the finish line.

Tourgee’s husband and kids had watched her run by in Wellesley, telling her they’d meet her at the finish line. However, traffic was so bad they re-thought their decision and decided not to go. However, Tourgee’s mother was waiting for her at the finish line. She was near the explosions and said the sound was so loud it was "deafening."

Tourgee was able to meet up with her family at the TD Garden. She said she left the event feeling "sad and exhausted" in contrast to how she’s felt when she’s completed marathons before, when you’re on a "runner’s high."

However, she said she isn’t going to let the experience prevent her from running it again in the future.

Teresa A. Franco may be reached at tfranco@wickedlocal.com or follow her on Twitter at @TeresaFranco_WL.